Chicago White Sox - PlayerWatch

June 19, 2012|Reuters

LHP Chris Sale would have liked to have faced the Cubs on Wednesday, especially on the stage of the cross-town series, but he understood that this was a good time to use an extra starter, RHP Zach Stewart, pushing the rotation back a day. "Never hurts getting a couple of extra days, I guess," Sale said, adding that the elbow that caused him to miss one start feels fine. "Going through a program, some days obviously are worse than others, but that's just sports, I guess."

LHP Jose Quintana is solidifying his spot in the rotation with every outing. He allowed five hits and no walks and struck out six in eight scoreless innings Sunday against the Dodgers, lowering his ERA to of 1.53 over 35 1/3 innings, both as a starter and a reliever. Quintana was supposed to be the replacement for injured LHP John Danks, but even when Danks returns, Quintana could remain in the rotation. He has outpitched RHP Gavin Floyd and RHP Philip Humber, leaving manager Robin Ventura with a decision. "He's pitched well against some really good teams, so it's not a fluke," Ventura said of Quintana.

OF Courtney Hawkins, whom the White Sox drafted in the first round (13th overall) two weeks ago, signed and was at U.S. Cellular Field to take batting practice before Monday's game. Hawkins will begin his professional career with rookie-level Bristol (Va.), with the hope that the 18-year-old out of Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, can be the power hitter the Sox expect. "I'd love to be there as fast as possible," Hawkins said of reaching the bigs. "It'd be great to be playing here soon. As far as being here in Chicago, the fan base here is amazing. By the time I just got drafted, the fans have been crazy and stuff on social websites."

C A.J. Pierzynski had his one-day breather Sunday, with C Tyler Flowers getting a start, but expect a busy week for Pierzynski. He likely will start five games in a row, with Thursday an off day and all night games until Sunday afternoon. Flowers has a big-league-best 63.6 percent (seven of 11) success rate on throwing out attempted base-stealers. However, Pierzynski is hitting .286 with 12 homers, compared to Flowers' .178 average.

LHP John Danks (sore left shoulder) continued to see doctors before Monday's game, and the White Sox were hoping to announce the results of what they've learned by Tuesday. GM Ken Williams hopes Danks is closer to returning to the rotation than further away.

OF Kosuke Fukudome went 1-for-2 Monday in his first rehab game for Class AAA Charlotte. Fukudome has been out since June 4 due to a strained right oblique. Manager Robin Ventura recently said the White Sox would like to see Fukudome get at least 12 at-bats with Charlotte before he is assessed.